Former Tomic coach rates his career all but over

Bernard Tomic faces a difficult path to get back to his best, back into the top 100, with his former coach saying he can't see it happening at all.

Tomic was sensationally booted out of Australian Open qualifying, losing in the third round to miss his chance at playing in the grand slam for the first time in 10 years. The 25-year-old wasn't given a wildcard by Tennis Australia, and when bundled out, told the world he couldn't care less.

Appearing to take issue with reporters, Tomic said precious little in the post-match, only boasting: 'I just count money, that’s all I do, I count my millions. You go make $13 or $14 million. Good luck, bye.'

New comments from a former coach of Tomic give us insight into the likely future and the past of the Tomic family.

Coach Neil Guiney was a mainstay with the Tomics, working with Bernie while he was playing the junior circuit for more than a decade.

But Guiney was straight down the line when critical of his former protege.

"I heard his comment about all his money, but that’s just how he is. He’s on a downhill slope and that (money) seems to be all he can think about," Guiney told the Daily Mail.

"I still watch him, but it’s disappointing to say the least ... the shining light is fading. Yes, I think this time you can nearly call it — his career is all but over."

Bernie's problems may stem from the influence of father John Tomic, who has had infamous incidents come to light - including headbutting hitting partner Thomas Drouet and leaving him with a broken nose outside a Spanish hotel in 2013, during the Madrid Masters.

Guiney shed some light on Tomic senior, saying: "John didn’t really know enough (about tennis) but always had to be in charge.

"The main drive came from his father, you could almost predict things were going to go wrong.

"Bernard always lived through this unsteady sort of atmosphere, not sure whether to duck or run, and that always breeds disaster.

"He took it very seriously when he was a kid, he liked to win, and all that’s gone now.”

"It’s all over, unless he’s happy to play (lower level) Challenger tournaments for all his life, but knowing Bernard I highly doubt it,’ Guiney said.

“To be honest I don’t think he is concerned about his bank balance, I think he’s just saying that because he’s embarrassed about losing.

”For him it’s embarrassing to have to play qualifiers and more embarrassing when he loses ... but it looks bad and it sounds bad.”

With Tomic out, bookmakers Neds have Federer as the favourite to defend his fairytale Australian Open crown, with bookmakers Neds rating him a $2.75 chance over Nadal ($4), with Aussie Nick Kyrgios given a genuine chance at $10.

This content brought to you by Neds, odds correct at time of publication.